23-year-old Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Elneny has reportedly completed his medical and will be announced as a member of the Arsenal squad on Wednesday.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has finally decided to recruit during the January transfer window, probably forced into doing so by the spate of injuries his side have suffered, especially in the midfield with Francis Coquelin, Santi Cazorla and Mikel Arteta all out through injury, and the timely return to fitness of Aaron Ramsey saving the Gunners from more selection woes.
Midfielder Mohamed Elneny has already completed his medical at the Emirates stadium, according to 101greatgoals.com, and will be unveiled as an Arsenal player on Wednesday. The Egyptian was signed from Swiss side FC Basel for a fee believed to be in the region of 5 million Euros, which could rise to 7 million.
. Backup for Coquelin
With both of Wenger’s first choice holding midfielders out, he was forced to make a signing in the transfer window to help strengthen that position. Arsenal had previously been criticised for their lack of a proper backup for Frenchman Francis Coquelin, and were left exposed after his knee injury in the 2-1 loss to West Bromwich Albion that led him to being ruled out of action for three months.
The Egyptian is a shrewd signing by Wenger as he has the primary quality that would help him in his role as defensive midfielder — his passing ability. Elneny has a 92.4 pass success percentage this season in the Europa league and his experience in that competition will hold him in good stead as he gears up for the highly competitive Premier League life.